Adel Abdessemed

22 September - 14 November 2010

© Adel Abdessemed Habibi, 2003, Resin, fiberglass, polystyrene, and airplane engine turbine, 17 metres, Courtesy the artist and David Zwirner, New York

ADEL ABDESSEMED
"Silent Warriors"

22 September – 14 November 2010

Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is delighted to present the first solo exhibition dedicated to the work of Adel Abdessemed in London. Working across a wide range of different media, including sculpture, installation, video, photography and drawings, Abdessemed passionately tackles difficult subject matter and taboos within society and presents them as naked truth. Yet beyond their often challenging and provocative appearance, his works embody the fragility of life and are deeply imbued with beauty and poetry. Abdessemed’s exhibition at Parasol unit highlights precisely the vulnerability and aesthetic sensitivity in the work of this important twenty-first-century artist.

Silent Warriors is organised around two of Abdessemed’s major works. In the ground floor gallery, Habibi, 2003, a 17-metre human skeleton made of fibreglass will hang horizontally from its spine together with an aeroplane propeller. Occupying the first floor will be a new installation entitled Silent Warrior, which includes numerous colourful masks made from found and discarded empty tin cans from Africa, which once either contained food provisions or toxic material.

This exhibition will also include other works, such as Also sprach Allah, 2008; Enter the Circle, 2009; the sculptural piece Music box, 2009, which plays a brief excerpt from Wagner’s opera Die Walküre (The Valkyrie); and Moscow, 2010, another new installation.

Abdessemed, born in Algeria in 1971, now lives and works in Paris.

This exhibition is curated by Ziba Ardalan and is accompanied by a new publication.

www.parasol-unit.org